In effective diabetes management, it is important that providers and health care systems prioritize the delivery of patient-centered care and that they are respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences and barriers.
The objective of the study was to conduct focus group interviews to capture patients' and health care professionals' perceptions and attitudes regarding digital technology and to explore how the digital Diabetes Questionnaire can be used to support patient participation in diabetes care, as a basis for an implementation study.
A qualitative study was conducted with six focus group discussions with diabetes specialist nurses and medical doctors (n=29) and four focus group discussions with individuals with diabetes (n=23). A semistructured focus group interview guide was developed, including probing questions. The data were transcribed verbatim, and qualitative content analysis was performed using an inductive approach.
Two main categories were revealed by the qualitative analysis perceptions of digital technology and the digital questionnaire in diabetes management and care and perceptions of participation in diabetes care. An overarching theme that emerged from the focus group interviews was patients' and professionals' involvement in diabetes care using digital tools.
The analysis identified important factors to consider when introducing the digital Diabetes Questionnaire in clinical use. Both professionals and patients need support and training in the practical implementation of the digital questionnaire, as well as the opportunity to provide feedback on the questionnaire answers.
The analysis identified important factors to consider when introducing the digital Diabetes Questionnaire in clinical use. Both professionals and patients need support and training in the practical implementation of the digital questionnaire, as well as the opportunity to provide feedback on the questionnaire answers.Heart transplantation (HTx) is the most effective treatment for end-stage heart failure patients. After transplantation, patients face physiological, psychological, social, and other health care problems. Mobile health (mHealth) apps can change the delivery of conventional health care to ubiquitous care and improve health care quality. However, a dearth of mHealth apps exists for patients with HTx worldwide, including in Taiwan.
The aim of this study was to investigate the information needed and to develop a preliminary framework for an mHealth app for post-HTx patients.
A qualitative approach with individual in-depth interviews was conducted at a heart center in the regional hospital of northern Taiwan from June to November 2017. Patients that had undergone HTx and their health professionals were recruited for purposeful sampling. A semistructured interview guideline was used for individual interviews and transcribed. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis.
A total of 21 subjects, including 17 patients and 4 health professionals, were recruited for the study. The following five major themes were identified reminding, querying, experience sharing, diet, and expert consulting. Minor themes included a desire to use the app with artificial intelligence and integration with professional management.
An intelligent mHealth app that addresses the five main themes and integrates the processes of using a mobile app could facilitate HTx self-management for Taiwanese patients.
An intelligent mHealth app that addresses the five main themes and integrates the processes of using a mobile app could facilitate HTx self-management for Taiwanese patients.Choking is one of the causes of unintentional injury death. Gaining the knowledge of the first-aid procedure that has to be applied in case of choking can increase the chances of survival of persons with choking. Serious games can be a good channel for educating people about choking scenarios and the actions to be taken to save the persons with choking.
The objective of this study is to present and evaluate the effectiveness of a serious game designed to prevent choking and to promote the first-aid procedure that needs to be applied in case of choking.
In this study, we present a serious game as a set of minigames that reproduces the main steps of the protocol for the first-aid performed in choking. In the proposed game, the player acquires the role of a helper who has to save the person in a choking emergency by applying the main steps of the protocol. Time and score restrictions are imposed to pass each minigame. To test this game, we performed a pilot study with 48 high school students. Different tesnd teaching first-aid procedures in choking emergencies to nonexperts in this field.We present a rare case of a patient with concurrent fat embolism and pulmonary embolism, in a closed femur fracture with patent foramen ovale (PFO). A 24-year-old man was involved in a motor vehicle accident with a closed left midshaft femur fracture. He developed fat embolism syndrome (FES) on day 3 of admission, and plating was performed. The D-dimer concentration was also high, which raised the suspicion of pulmonary artery embolism. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/isoxazole-9-isx-9.html Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) revealed right inferior lobar pulmonary artery embolism and FES. A transthoracic echocardiogram (TEE) was performed, which showed a PFO. The presence of a PFO in patients with pulmonary embolism increases the risk of systemic embolism. Therefore, we recommend the routine echocardiogram for patients with pulmonary embolism to exclude any cardiac defect in causing right-to-left shunts, which predisposes the patient to paradoxical embolism.This study aimed to determine the effects of a novel biodegradable implant releasing platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) at the fracture site on fracture healing in a rat tibia fracture model.
In this study, 35 male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing between 300 and 350?g were used. The rats were divided into four groups Group A (control group without any treatment, n=10), Group B (spacer without PDGF Group, n=10), Group C (spacer with PDGF group, n=10), and Group D (healthy rat Group, n=5). Standardized fractures were created in the right tibias of rats, and then biodegradable implants made of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxy valerate were implanted at the fracture sites in Groups B and C. In Group C, implants were loaded with 600 ng of PDGF. Animals were sacrificed 30 days after the operation, and fracture healing in each group was assessed radiologically based on the Goldberg score. Furthermore, the anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) callus diameters were measured macroscopically, and fracture sites were mechanically tested.